


Praying for a Miracle

by BuckytheDucky



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Dark! Fic, M/M, ambiguous ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 11:17:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9654119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckytheDucky/pseuds/BuckytheDucky
Summary: Not knowing what happened is bad. Not knowing what isgoing tohappen is even worse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys.
> 
> So. This is much darker than I've written in a long time, and... Honestly, I wish I could apologise for that, but it was weirdly cathartic for me to write. But I hope you enjoy reading this.
> 
>  
> 
> Skip to the end for the basic plot summary to know if you want to actually read this.

He knows, the instant he jerks to consciousness, that something isn’t right. He doesn’t even have to open his eyes to be absolutely certain that he isn’t at home, sprawled across his bed with JARVIS helpfully keeping the windows tinted to near-black. Under his back is a cold, hard surface, his shoulders pressing painfully into unforgiving concrete. The air is frigid, heavy with moisture; his nose is filled with the stench of rot and decay. A steady _drip-drip-drip_ echoes dully around him. His body aches in a way that it hasn’t for a long time, and he can feel the skin around his ankles and in his side trying to knit itself back together. Pain blooms and fades as he breathes. Darkness pushes oppressively against his eyes, but he still tries to catch sight of something, _anything ._

Bucky doesn’t remember what happened, how he got here. The last thing he can recall is suiting up after a call to assemble, Clint cracking jokes the entire time until Natasha challenged him to a race for the pilot’s seat. Steve had tried to admonish them for behaviour unfitting of the situation, but no one took him seriously; after a game of Truth-or-Dare involving Asgardian mead, during which Steve had drunkenly confessed that he felt like the team was a family when they joked and teased and had fun together, his scolding was more to save face than to actually be taken seriously. Bucky can still see the soft smile Tony gave him right before the faceplate closed and the armour flew away with a whine of repulsors. His thoughts take on a decidedly panicked path, and he feels his heart-rate pick up.

With a steadying breath, Bucky forces himself to stop thinking of the team and start figuring out a way of getting back home. He shifts slightly and relaxes minutely when he realises he isn’t bound. He slowly pushes himself into a sitting position; his lips twist into a small small when his spine lets off a series of satisfying _click_ s. His fingers are steady as they slide across (too much) bare skin, examining his body, searching out any worrying wounds. Thankfully, he’s wearing the ratty tank-top and his boxers he’d been wearing beneath his tac suit, so at least he’s not completely nude, but it’s still not enough. He forces his heart to slow from its racing rhythm as he takes stock of what he can smell, feel, and hear.

A low, almost inaudible moan jars Bucky into motion; he climbs to his feet as slowly as he feels is possible. He pauses, waiting for the sound again and moving towards it once it sounds. His hands land on a chilled form curled into a ball. It doesn’t take long for him to realise exactly who’s in this rotting cell with him.

“Oh, no. Shit.” Bucky ducks his head closer, praying desperately to a God he stopped believing in long ago that there’s still a chance. “Come on, please be okay, _please_.”

Tony doesn’t respond; his breath whistles faintly, rapid and shallow – _too_ shallow. Bucky swallows the panic down and pulls Tony’s body closer. As he cradles the armourless man to his chest, Bucky devotes half of his brainpower to finding a way out of this godforsaken prison, and the rest to making sure his boyf – partner – _the man he loves_ survives this fucking hellhole.

Finding out that he was in love with the genius wasn’t so much a revelation as a puzzle coming together, a puzzle Bucky didn’t realise was even missing a piece. And finding out that Tony felt – _feels_ – the same left a brighter, warmer feeling than Bucky would ever have thought possible. Spending time with Tony, no matter what they did, has been a source of absolute contentment and happiness for Bucky. Whether they spent hours in the workshop – Tony working on something for SI or on the Iron Man armour, while Bucky plays ‘catch’ with DUM-E or watches You and Butterfingers doing the jobs assigned to them – or stayed curled against each other on the couch while watching reruns of Star Trek (during which Tony never shuts up, but Bucky loves hearing the way Tony’s mind works), Bucky can never find anything to complain about. There’ve been many nights where one or the other has woken up with terrible nightmares and flashbacks, but the fact that those nights have become fewer and farther between has been a highlight.

And now…

Now Tony’s barely breathing in his arms, his body cool and trembling sluggishly. Bucky presses his face to thick, matted hair smelling like copper, breathing in deeply. With a harsh gasp, he moves until his lips find papery flesh, presses a kiss there.

“Please, Tony, please. Don’t you dare die on me. I can’t...I can’t live without you. We’ve only had seven months. I need a lot more than that. I need  _you_.” Bucky stifles a sob. “I’ll get us outta here, darlin’, I swear I will. When we get home, we’re gonna get so much takeout, park our asses on our couch, and not move for, like, a year. The rest of the team can deal with those damn villains you like to bitch about, but we’re taking a vacation. But ya gotta wake up for me, sweetheart. You gotta stick with me.”

Bucky holds Tony tighter, wishes to hear the way Tony normally grumbles and feel the way he halfheartedly pushes Bucky away before melting into the embrace. But it doesn’t come. All that comes is wet, ragged breathing; the echoing _drip-drip-drip_ ; and the sound of Bucky’s heart breaking the longer Tony is silent. He starts praying harder for a miracle.

 

**Author's Note:**

> **Okay. So.**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -Bucky and Tony are injured/knocked unconscious/abducted during an op; Bucky doesn't know why/how.
> 
> -Bucky is relatively uninjured due to the serum working to fix his injuries while he was unconscious.
> 
> -Ending is ambiguous as to whether they're rescued in time or not. It's literally up for you to decide.


End file.
